The subject matter disclosed herein relates to utility meters and, more particularly, to service switches within utility meters.
Some utility companies, for example, certain electrical service companies, employ utility meters to regulate and or record the amount of service (e.g. electricity) being consumed by a given location or consumer (e.g., a residence). During operation these utility meters may convey electricity from a utility network to a residence. Installation and/or maintenance work on the utility meter, worn or damaged sockets, improper installation techniques, damage to the utility meter, etc., may cause undesirable installed stresses or loads to form or be discharged within the utility meter. These stresses may transfer to the electrical contact region within the utility meter which, due in part to the high current rating of some utility meters, may potentially damage components and/or lead to a utility meter failure. Some systems attempt to connect or disconnect service at a utility meter by using a rigidly mounted separation system to separate a set of electrical contacts within the utility meter. These systems are disposed within the utility meter and oriented to intermittently contact the electrical contacts when either disconnecting or connecting the electrical contacts. However, these rigid separation systems rely on precisely located internal components to successfully operate. The rigid mounting and precise demands of these systems may make the system difficult to tune and/or adjust and may fail to adequately accommodate components that are misaligned.